In regard to Steve Eckardt's column "War in Europe" [in the current issue of the Chicago 'zine Lumpen] -- while I am also sickened and opposed to the US's military action in Yugoslavia, I am equally horrified at the horrible lie of post-war "genuine inter-ethnic unity" at the hands of Tito and Yugoslavian partisans.

Perhaps the socialists did achieve some sort of ethnic equality -- but only after they completely cleared out over a half a million Donauschwaben (Danube Swabians). This is an ethnically German group who settled along the Danube River during the 1700's, during the time of the Austro-Hungarian empire. But since these people spoke the same language as the Nazi invaders had, your glorious socialist heroes saw fit to round them up, force them from their homes, steal their property, rape the women, starve them in concentration camps and ship them into slave labor in the Soviet Union. Pretty standard ethnic cleansing. While there were certainly some Nazis among them, most were apolitical, simple peasants caught between the twin terrors of fascism and socialism.

This expulsion of ethnic Germans happened all over socialist Eastern Europe after WW#2, and Tito's gang was probably the most effective. You don't hear about any Germans living in Yugoslavia these days. They were completely wiped out.

Some did manage to escape alive, and many are living right here in Chicago. My in-laws survived in Tito's concentration camps for over two years before escaping. My wife's parents were just little kids at the time. My mother-in-law's father and a grandfather died in those camps.

This may all seem fantastic and unbelievable to you, and I don't blame you, since this massive tragedy hasn't made the history books. It's not politically correct to talk about German people as victims of genocide. Even the survivors themselves are quiet about it. There's a very strong community of Danube Swabians here in Chicago, and other cities have groups as well, but they exist to keep their unique heritage alive -- not to dwell on the expulsion.

One local survivor, Elizabeth Walter, has not been as silent and has written an account of her childhood in the camps called "Barefoot in the Rubble". See this link for a review of the book:

The leading scholar on the expulsion of ethnic Germans is Alfred de Zayas. He's written a number of books, including "A Terrible Revenge: The Ethnic Cleansing of the East European Germans, 1944-1950." A website contains an excerpt from a talk given by de Zayas on the subject:

I encourage anyone to look further into this hidden history. I especially hope that Steve Eckardt learns to look a little more critically at his "war hero Marshall Tito" -- and stops perpetuating the socialist propaganda.

Mark Roeser
Chicago

Eckardt Responds.
Mark Responds

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